It was narrated that ‘Urwah bin Az-Zubair said: “Zaid bin Thabit said: ‘May Allah forgive Rafi’ bin Khadij. By Allah, I have more knowledge of the Hadith than him. We were two men who fought and the Messenger of Allah صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم said: If this is how it is between you, then do not lease land. And he only heard the words: Do not lease land.” (Hasan) Abu ‘Abdur-Rahman (An-Nasa’i) said: (this is an example of) A sharecropping contract based on the condition that the seeds and expenses be provided by the owner of the land, and the share cropper will have one-quarter of whatever Allah brings forth from the land: This contract was written by so and so the son of so and so the son of so and so, while he is still in good health, and in full control of his wealth. (It is addressed to) so and so the son of so and so; stating that you will give me all of your land that is situated in such and such location, in such and such city, to cultivate it on the basis of sharecropping. This is the (piece of) land that is known as such and such, defined by four boundaries that enclose the entire area (he defines the four boundaries). You have given to me all of the land defined in this contract, within the boundaries specified, and everything in it, water, rivers and streams, uncultivated, empty land with no crops planted therein, for a complete year, starting at the beginning of such and such month of such and such year, and ending at the end of such and such month of such and such year, on the basis that I will cultivate all of the land specified in this contract, the location of which is described herein, in the year described herein, from beginning to end. I may cultivate anything I want and see fit of wheat, barley, sesame, rice, cotton, fresh dates, herbs, chickpeas, beans, lentils, cucumbers, melons, carrots, radishes, onions, garlic, and any other kind of winter or summer produce, using your seeds which are all to be provided by you and not by me, on the basis that I will do the work myself, or with whomever I want of my helpers, and hired workers, my oxen, and my tools, and equipment. I will cultivate it and take care of it so that it will grow well and yield the best produce, plowing the land and clearing it of brush, supplying water and manure to those crops that need them, digging irrigation ditches, picking whatever needs to be picked, harvesting whatever needs to be harvested, gathering it, threshing and winnowing what needs to be threshed and winnowed. All of that will be done at your expense and not mine, and it will be done by me and my helpers, and not by you. From all that Allah brings forth from all of that, during the period specified in this contract, from beginning to end, you will have three quarters in return for you land, your water, your seeds and your spending, and I will have the remaining quarter of all that in return for my cultivation and labor, done by myself and my helpers. You have given me all the land of yours defined in this contract, with all its rights and facilities, and I have accepted all of that from you on such and such a day in such and such a month, of such-and-such a year. All of that has come under my control, but I do not own any of it, and I have no claim to any of it except this sharecropping as described in this contract, during the year described therein. Once that time ends, then it all reverts to you and to your control, and you have the right to expel me from it when that year is over, and to take it out of my control, and out of the control of anyone who had anything to do with it because of me. Signed by so and so and so and so. Two copies were made of this contract.